Duel between Molly Weasley and Bellatrix Lestrange
This duel was fought between Hogwarts students Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, and ex-student and matriarch of the Weasley family Molly Weasley against Death Eater lieutenant Bellatrix Lestrange, taking place in the Great Hall of Hogwarts Castle after the hour-long halt during the Battle of Hogwarts. The duel was initially fought by all three of the formers until Molly interfered after the girls' opponent nearly killed one of the duelists involved, Molly's daughter, Ginny. After Molly cast a well-aimed lethal spell at Bellatrix, she toppled lifeless to the ground, making Voldemort scream in fury and point his wand at Mrs Weasley. Harry Potter cast a Shield Charm between the two of them, thus revealling himself and setting the stage for the duel that ended the Second Wizarding War. History Background After the Battle of Hogwarts recommenced, the arrival of the Hogwarts Centaur herd, Grawp, and the shopkeeps and homeowners of Hogsmeade forced the battle to move inside the Castle, with duellers being forced into the Great Hall by the charging forces. The duel raises her wand towards Bellatrix]] Fifty yards away from Lord Voldemort, who duelled against Minerva McGonagall, Horace Slughorn and Kingsley Shacklebolt, Bellatrix Lestrange started a duel against Hermione Granger, Ginevra Weasley and Luna Lovegood, each of the three girls battling their hardest. Despite not using her personal wand, Bellatrix fought back fiercely, proving herself an equal in power to the three of them.. During the duel, Bellatrix shot a Killing Curse at Ginny, missing her target by an inch. Molly Weasley witnessed this and, enraged at the Death Eater, ran towards her throwing off her cloak to free her arms as Bellatrix roared with laughter at the sight of her new challenger come to join the duel. and Bellatrix locked in combat with one another]] Molly Weasley began her interference with a quick swipe of her wand, prompting the other three duellists to step back. Bellatrix, however, did not take Molly seriously in the least, having started duelling with an expression of derision on her face. As Mrs Weasley's wand slashed and twisted, Bellatrix's smile faltered and became a snarl, the floor around the two witches' feet becoming hot and cracked with the intensity of their spell-casting. At this point, a few Hogwarts students ran forward to aid Mrs Weasley, but were dismissed with a "No! Get back! ''Get back! She is mine!" Bellatrix then started taunting Mrs Weasley over her son's murder, and gave an exhilarated laugh as her opponent cast the fatal blow that struck Bellatrix squarely in the chest, directly over her heart. Bellatrix's gloating smile froze, her eyes seemed to bulge and then her lifeless body toppled to the ground. Molly was not as powerful as Bellatrix, as Bellatrix was taught directly by Lord Voldemort. So there is some reasonable speculation that there is a combination of factors that led to the outcome of the duel. The powerful ancient magic of "love" was in effect as Molly was protecting her loved ones. Molly was also very emotionally involved and true feelings make spells stronger. Molly was likely full of adrenaline and also likely caught Bellatrix off guard, who didn't consider Molly a threat at first. Aftermath After she shockingly toppled to the ground, an outraged Voldemort blasted away the three opposing duelists he was fighting and turned his wand on Molly. This prompted Harry Potter to cast a Shield Charm between the two and in the process reveal himself. Voldemort and Harry circled each other and the final showdown between them ensued. Voldemort, attempting to kill Harry, cast the Killing Curse, and Harry a Disarming Charm. The Elder Wand refusing, to harm its true master, rebounded Voldemort's curse. Bellatrix did not live to see the end of the Second Wizarding War and her master's final defeat at Harry Potter's hands mere moments later. Behind the scenes *In the second part of the film adaptation of ''Deathly Hallows, this duel has some noticeable differences: **In the film, Bellatrix casts a blue spell at Ginny Weasley instead of a Killing Curse, who deflects it using a Shield Charm. In the book she just avoids it. **In the film, Hermione and Luna are also not duelling Bellatrix alongside Ginny as depicted in the book, as Hermione is fighting Nagini with Ron on the Grand Staircase and Luna can be seen fighting Death Eaters behind Bellatrix. **In the film, the duel takes place atop one of the House tables, instead of on the stone floor, as specified in the book. **In the film, after Bella's retaliation against Molly's attack, Molly proceeds to cast four unidentified spells in a row, but they are all blocked by Bellatrix. The unidentified spells are fired with green lights, seeming to be the Killing Curses, however, in the books, Killing Curses are not able to be blocked by a simple Shield Charm. **In the film, Bellatrix is briefly immobilised, breathing in deeply with an expression of shock, and after being hit by another spell by Molly Weasley, explodes. In the book she just falls over, dead. **In the film, neither Harry nor Voldemort witness the duel, as they are facing off on the Grand Staircase, the Marble Staircase and later on a set of catwalks by The Quad battlements. But in the Book Voldemort screams about Bellatrix's loss. **In the film, Bellatrix is not the last standing Death Eater. *In , there is an image shown indicating an alternate death to Bellatrix, where she is blasted into the wall behind her and lying amongst a pile of crutches. *In the second part of the video game adaptation of Deathly Hallows, this duel has some noticeable differences: **Bellatrix starts shooting randomly before she sees Ginny Weasley. In the book Molly arrives while Bellatrix is duelling Ginny, Hermione and Luna. **Molly uses the line "You will never touch my children again!" after Bellatrix is defeated, just like in the book; however, this does not occur in the film. **Bellatrix shoots down a corner of the roof of the Great Hall. This doesn't happen in the book. **Molly and Bellatrix run all over the Great Hall shooting spells and curses, while taunting each other. In the book they only stand in one spot. **Bellatrix uses several taunts against Molly such as "You should get off your feet more" and "How is little Freddie, still not with us?". Molly says, "You'll regret the day you escaped from Azkaban!". *In , Molly and Kingsley duel Bellatrix on The Quad battlements, while several Death Eaters emerge from the shadows to defend her. Like all duels in the second game (apart from the Ousting of Severus Snape) the duel is waged entirely with Bellatrix firing Reverse Spells at her enemies, the target depending on the player's decision to use Molly or Kingsley. Much like in the film, Molly destroys Bellatrix by making her body quite literally explode. Appearances * * * * * * Notes and references es:Duelo entre Molly Weasley y Bellatrix Lestrange pl:Pojedynek Molly Weasley i Bellatriks Lestrange ru:Дуэль между Молли Уизли и Беллатрисой Лестрейндж Category:Battle of Hogwarts Category:Duels